The disclosure includes a system, a computer program product, and a method for inspecting a turbine system. In one embodiment, the system includes at least one computing device configured to inspect a turbine system by performing actions including: obtaining a set of pre-maintenance digital images of the turbine system, obtaining a set of post-maintenance digital images of the turbine system, comparing the set of pre-maintenance digital images with the set of post-maintenance digital images to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images, and comparing the set of post-maintenance digital image with a set of computer modeled image of the turbine system to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying the anomaly. The post-maintenance digital images depict the turbine system after a maintenance process has been performed on the turbine system.
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14. A method of inspecting a turbine system, the method comprising:
obtaining a set of pre-maintenance digital images of the turbine system;
obtaining a set of post-maintenance digital images of the turbine system, the post-maintenance digital images depicting the turbine system after a maintenance process has been performed on the turbine system;
comparing the set of pre-maintenance digital images with the set of post-maintenance digital images to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images; and
comparing the set of post-maintenance digital image with a set of computer modeled images of the turbine system to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying the anomaly.
1. A system comprising:
at least one computing device configured to inspect a turbine system by performing actions including:
obtaining a set of pre-maintenance digital images of the turbine system;
obtaining a set of post-maintenance digital images of the turbine system, the post-maintenance digital images depicting the turbine system after a maintenance process has been performed on the turbine system;
comparing the set of pre-maintenance digital images with the set of post-maintenance digital images to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images; and
comparing the set of post-maintenance digital images with a set of computer modeled images of the turbine system to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying the anomaly.
8. A program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium for inspecting a turbine system, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program code for causing the computer system to:
obtain a set of pre-maintenance digital images of the turbine system;
obtain a set of post-maintenance digital images of the turbine system, the post-maintenance digital images depicting the turbine system after a maintenance process has been performed on the turbine system;
compare the set of pre-maintenance digital images with the set of post-maintenance digital images to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images; and
compare the set of post-maintenance digital image with a set of computer modeled images of the turbine system to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying the anomaly.
2. The system of
wherein the obtaining of the set of post-maintenance digital images is performed by capturing the set of post-maintenance digital images using the industrial camera.
3. The system of
retrieving the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system from a library of a plurality of computer modeled images for a plurality of distinct turbine systems.
4. The system of
5. The system of
identifying an unknown component not included in the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system and included in the set of post-maintenance digital images,
identifying a displaced component included in the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system and missing from the set of post-maintenance digital images, or
identifying a misaligned component included in the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system in a first alignment and included in the set of post-maintenance digital images in a second alignment, distinct from the first alignment.
6. The system of
7. The system of
providing an indicator based on the pre-determined severity level in response to the determining of the type of the anomaly.
9. The program product of
retrieve the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system from a library of a plurality of computer modeled images for a plurality of distinct turbine systems.
10. The program product of
11. The program product of
identifying an unknown component not included in the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system and included in the set of post-maintenance digital images,
identifying a displaced component included in the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system and missing from the set of post-maintenance digital images, or
identifying a misaligned component included in the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system in a first alignment and included in the set of post-maintenance digital images in a second alignment, distinct from the first alignment.
12. The program product of
13. The program product of
provide an indicator based on the pre-determined severity level in response to the determining of the type of the anomaly.
15. The method of
wherein the obtaining of the set of post-maintenance digital images is performed by capturing the set of post-maintenance digital images using the industrial camera.
16. The method of
retrieving the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system from a library of a plurality of computer modeled images for a plurality of distinct turbine systems.
17. The method of
18. The method of
identifying an unknown component not included in the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system and included in the set of post-maintenance digital images,
identifying a displaced component included in the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system and missing from the set of post-maintenance digital images, or
identifying a misaligned component included in the set of computer modeled images of the turbine system in a first alignment and included in the set of post-maintenance digital images in a second alignment, distinct from the first alignment.
19. The method of
20. The method of
providing an indicator based on the pre-determined severity level in response to the determining of the type of the anomaly.
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1. Technical Field
The disclosure is related generally to an inspection system, and more particularly to an inspection system for a turbine system.
2. Related Art
Conventional turbine systems (e.g., gas turbine systems) often require regular maintenance to ensure the turbine system operates at a desired efficiency for the full operational life of the turbine system. Maintenance may be regularly scheduled, or may be performed on an as-needed basis due to emergencies or unexpected mechanical failure of the components of the turbine system. In either instance, maintenance frequently requires that the turbine system be completely shut down so turbine operators may safely and thoroughly perform the maintenance on the turbine system. During maintenance, the turbine operators typically inspect the components of the turbine system visually to determine what maintenance processes (e.g., replacement of parts, re-alignment, etc.) should be performed on the turbine system.
However, by relying on the turbine operator to visually inspect the turbine system, some maintenance needs may go undetected, e.g., due to human error, inadequate inspection or the turbine operator's inability to directly view specific portions of the turbine system. Even further, the turbine operator is conventionally responsible for inspecting the turbine system for foreign objects (e.g., tools used during maintenance) after performing the maintenance processes. However, due in part to the limited visibility within the turbine system, post-maintenance inspection can fail to identify all foreign objects still located within the turbine system.
A turbine inspection system is disclosed. In one embodiment, a system for use in turbine inspection is disclosed. The system can include: at least one computing device configured to inspect a turbine system by performing actions including: obtaining a set of pre-maintenance digital images of the turbine system; obtaining a set of post-maintenance digital images of the turbine system, the post-maintenance digital images depicting the turbine system after a maintenance process has been performed on the turbine system; comparing the set of pre-maintenance digital images with the set of post-maintenance digital images to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images; and comparing the set of post-maintenance digital image with a set of computer modeled image of the turbine system to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying the anomaly.
A first aspect of the invention includes a system including: at least one computing device configured to inspect a turbine system by performing actions including: obtaining a set of pre-maintenance digital images of the turbine system; obtaining a set of post-maintenance digital images of the turbine system, the post-maintenance digital images depicting the turbine system after a maintenance process has been performed on the turbine system; comparing the set of pre-maintenance digital images with the set of post-maintenance digital images to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images; and comparing the set of post-maintenance digital image with a set of computer modeled image of the turbine system to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying the anomaly.
A second aspect of the invention includes A program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium for inspecting a turbine system, the non-transitory computer readable medium including program code for causing the computer system to: obtain a set of pre-maintenance digital images of the turbine system; obtain a set of post-maintenance digital images of the turbine system, the post-maintenance digital images depicting the turbine system after a maintenance process has been performed on the turbine system; compare the set of pre-maintenance digital images with the set of post-maintenance digital images to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images; and compare the set of post-maintenance digital image with a set of computer modeled image of the turbine system to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying the anomaly.
A third aspect of the invention includes a method of inspecting a turbine system. The method includes: obtaining a set of pre-maintenance digital images of the turbine system; obtaining a set of post-maintenance digital images of the turbine system, the post-maintenance digital images depicting the turbine system after a maintenance process has been performed on the turbine system; comparing the set of pre-maintenance digital images with the set of post-maintenance digital images to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images; and comparing the set of post-maintenance digital image with a set of computer modeled image of the turbine system to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying the anomaly.
These and other features of this invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description of the various aspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that depict various embodiments of the invention, in which:
It is noted that the drawings of the invention are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents like elements between the drawings.
As described herein, aspects of the invention relate to an inspection system. Specifically, as described herein, aspects of the invention relate to an inspection system for a turbine system.
Turning to
In an embodiment, as shown in
Turbine system 106, as shown in
Returning to
Also shown in
The computing device 104 is shown including a processing component 122 (e.g., one or more processors), a storage component 124 (e.g., a storage hierarchy), an input/output (I/O) component 126 (e.g., one or more I/O interfaces and/or devices), and a communications pathway 128. In general, the processing component 122 executes program code, such as the inspection system 102, which is at least partially fixed in the storage component 124. While executing program code, the processing component 122 can process data, which can result in reading and/or writing transformed data from/to the storage component 124 and/or the I/O component 126 for further processing. The pathway 128 provides a communications link between each of the components in the computing device 104. The I/O component 126 can comprise one or more human I/O devices, which enable a human user 112 (e.g., turbine system operator) to interact with the computing device 104 and/or one or more communications devices to enable a system user 112 to communicate with the computing device 104 using any type of communications link. In some embodiments, user 112 (e.g., turbine system operator) can interact with a human-machine interface 130, which allows user 112 to communicate with inspection system 102 of computing device 104. Human-machine interface 130 can include: an interactive touch screen, a graphical user display or any other conventional human-machine interface known in the art. To this extent, the inspection system 102 can manage a set of interfaces (e.g., graphical user interface(s), application program interface, etc.) that enable human and/or system users 112 to interact with the inspection system 102. Further, the inspection system 102 can manage (e.g., store, retrieve, create, manipulate, organize, present, etc.) data in the storage component 124, such as obtained digital images or computer modeled images using any solution. More specifically, inspection system 102 can store computer modeled images in library 116 as described in the process above.
In any event, the computing device 104 can comprise one or more general purpose computing articles of manufacture (e.g., computing devices) capable of executing program code, such as inspection system 102, installed thereon. As used herein, it is understood that “program code” means any collection of instructions, in any language, code or notation, that cause a computing device having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after any combination of the following: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; (b) reproduction in a different material form; and/or (c) decompression. To this extent, the inspection system 102 can be embodied as any combination of system software and/or application software.
Further, the inspection system 102 can be implemented using a set of modules 132. In this case, a module 132 can enable the computing device 104 to perform a set of tasks used by the inspection system 102, and can be separately developed and/or implemented apart from other portions of the inspection system 102. As used herein, the term “component” means any configuration of hardware, with or without software, which implements the functionality described in conjunction therewith using any solution, while the term “module” means program code that enables the computing device 104 to implement the functionality described in conjunction therewith using any solution. When fixed in a storage component 124 of a computing device 104 that includes a processing component 122, a module is a substantial portion of a component that implements the functionality. Regardless, it is understood that two or more components, modules, and/or systems may share some/all of their respective hardware and/or software. Further, it is understood that some of the functionality discussed herein may not be implemented or additional functionality may be included as part of the computing device 104.
When the computing device 104 comprises multiple computing devices, each computing device may have only a portion of inspection system 102 fixed thereon (e.g., one or more modules 132). However, it is understood that the computing device 104 and inspection system 102 are only representative of various possible equivalent computer systems that may perform a process described herein. To this extent, in other embodiments, the functionality provided by the computing device 104 and inspection system 102 can be at least partially implemented by one or more computing devices that include any combination of general and/or specific purpose hardware with or without program code. In each embodiment, the hardware and program code, if included, can be created using standard engineering and programming techniques, respectively.
Regardless, when the computing device 104 includes multiple computing devices, the computing devices can communicate over any type of communications link. Further, while performing a process described herein, the computing device 104 can communicate with one or more other computer systems using any type of communications link. In either case, the communications link can comprise any combination of various types of wired and/or wireless links; comprise any combination of one or more types of networks; and/or utilize any combination of various types of transmission techniques and protocols.
The computing device 104 can obtain or provide data, such as the set of computer modeled images 120 of turbine system 106 using any solution. For example, the computing device 104 can obtain and/or retrieve the set of computer modeled images 120 from one or more data stores, receive the set of computer modeled images 120 from another system, send the set of computer modeled images 120 to another system, etc.
While shown and described herein as a system for inspecting a turbine system 106, it is understood that aspects of the invention further provide various alternative embodiments. For example, in one embodiment, the invention provides a computer program fixed in at least one computer-readable medium, which when executed, enables a computer system to inspect a turbine system. To this extent, the computer-readable medium includes program code, such as the inspection system 102 (
In another embodiment, the invention provides a system for inspecting turbine system 106. In this case, a computer system, such as the computing device 104 (
Turning to
Returning to
Turning to
Following process P1, process P2 can include obtaining a set of post-maintenance digital images 114 of turbine system 106 (
Continuing the example of process P1, in process P2 the set of post-maintenance digital images 114 may be obtained after a maintenance process has been performed on turbine system 106. For example, a maintenance process performed on turbine device 200 of turbine system 106 (
Also shown in
As shown in
After obtaining the set of post-maintenance digital images 114 of in process P2, process P3 can include comparing the set of pre-maintenance digital images 110 with the set of post-maintenance digital images 114. More specifically in process P3, inspection system 102 may compare the set of pre-maintenance digital images 110 with the set of post-maintenance digital images 114 to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images 114. In an embodiment, as shown in
Continuing with the example of process P2, and as shown in
Following process P3, process P4 can include comparing the set of post-maintenance digital images 114 with a set of computer modeled images 120 of turbine system 106 to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying an anomaly in process P3. More specifically, if inspection system 102 identifies an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images 114 in process P3, then inspection system 102 may compare the set of post-maintenance digital images 114 to a set of computer modeled images 120 to identify the type of anomaly that exists in turbine system 106 during the comparison in process P4. The comparison of the set of post-maintenance digital images 114 with the set of computer-modeled images 120 of turbine system 106 may be performed using a similar technique as described above with respect to the comparison process performed in process P3. For example, and discussed below, inspection system 102 may provide a second overlaying comparison image (
Briefly turning to
Inspection system 102 may retrieve the set of computer modeled images 120 of turbine system 106 from a library 116 of a plurality of computer modeled images 118 for a plurality of distinct turbine systems (not shown). More specifically, inspection system 102 may first determine which specific type of turbine system (e.g., turbine system 106) is being inspected. After determining the specific type of turbine system, inspection system 102 may retrieve the set of computer modeled images 120 associated with that specific turbine system (e.g., turbine system 106) from the plurality of computer modeled images 118. The set of computer modeled images 120 may include any now known or later developed computer rendered images of turbine system 106, such as, but not limited to, two-dimensional or three-dimensional computer aided-design (CAD) drawings. The set of computer modeled images 120 of turbine system 106 may also include a modeled image for all components (e.g., first stage buckets 204, stator vanes 208-210, rotor shaft 202, etc.) in turbine system 106. By including a computer model for all components of turbine system 106, inspection system 102 may identify anomalies in whole components of the turbine system 106 (e.g., misaligned stator vane 210). Additionally, inspection system 102 may also identify anomalies that exist in a sub-component of a single component of turbine system 106 (e.g., single broken blade on a set of first stage buckets 204).
Continuing the example of process P3, and with reference to
Continuing the example of process P3, and as seen in
Following process P4, process P5 can include providing an indicator of an anomaly to user 112. More specifically, inspection system 102 of computing device 104 may provide user 112 with an indicator of an anomaly using human-machine interface 130. The provided indicator of the anomaly may notify user 112 whether it is acceptable to allow turbine system 106 to begin operation after the maintenance process has been performed. The indicator may be provided to user 112 via HMI 130, as one of a plurality of conventional indicators including, but not limited to, an auditory indicator (e.g., siren), or a visual indicator (e.g., light, print out).
In various embodiments of the invention, each type of anomaly determined in process P4 may also be associated with a pre-determined severity level, and the provided indicator in process P5 may be based on the pre-determined severity level. More specifically, each type of determined anomaly may include a pre-determined severity level of either low importance or high importance. For an anomaly including a pre-determined severity level of low importance, the provided indicator may be a warning indicator. The warning indicator may inform user 112 that actions may not be necessary before turbine system 106 becomes operational after a maintenance process has been performed. For an anomaly including a pre-determined severity level of high importance, the provided indicator may be an alarm indicator. The alarm indicator may inform user 112 that actions are necessary before turbine system 106 becomes operational after a maintenance process has been performed. That is, the alarm indicator may display on human-machine interface 130 that the turbine system 106 is not ready for operation until the determined anomaly of turbine system 106 is corrected. In an embodiment, as shown in
In addition to providing user 112 with an indicator based on the pre-determined severity level, inspection system 102 of computing device 104 may also provide user 112 with the type of anomaly determined by inspection system 102 using human machine interface 130. More specifically, inspection system 102 may provide an indicator to HMI 130, with the type of anomaly determined (e.g., unknown component, displaced component, misaligned component) and a digital image from the set of post-maintenance digital images 114 which may include the determined anomaly. The digital image of the set of post-maintenance digital images 114 may include highlighted portions 232-234 (
Continuing the example of process P4, with reference to
After the anomalies have been identified and made known to user 112, user 112 may then correct the anomaly included in turbine device 200. User 112 may then run the inspection process (P1-P5) again to determine if any anomalies still exist in turbine system 106. Once all anomalies are corrected, or it is determined that all existing anomalies include a severity level of low importance (e.g., no action necessary), turbine system 106 may be operational again.
Technical effects of the invention, include, but are not limited to comparing the set of pre-maintenance digital images with the set of post-maintenance digital images to identify an anomaly in the set of post-maintenance digital images, and comparing the set of post-maintenance digital image with a set of computer modeled images of the turbine system to determine a type of the anomaly in response to identifying the anomaly.
The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations are possible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to an individual in the art are included within the scope of the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.
Singamsetti, Venkata Nagendra Sathi Raju, Dontula, Harish Kumar
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